Colin Firth on being an action icon
Colin Firth never expected to become an action icon in his middle age. Yet that’s exactly what happened when the English actor, famous for his roles in the likes of Pride & Prejudice, Bridget Jones’s Diary and, of course, his Oscar-winning turn in The King’s Speech, took the role of Harry Hart in Kingsman: The
Secret Service. Creating a noble gentleman spy who was debonair and dashing, but deadly when he wanted to be, Colin’s Harry became an instant favorite with audiences everywhere. Which made his death in the movie all the more shocking.
Yet rumors of Harry’s death have been greatly exaggerated. After much teasing and tantalizing and speculation, it can be confirmed that Harry does return in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. But the how and the why and the where still remain to be seen. Matthew Vaughn’s box-office smash,
Kingsman: The Secret Service, reinvented the spy genre for a new generation and continues to do so in the next chapter, Kingsman:
The Golden Circle, starring returning cast Taron Egerton, Mark Strong and Sophie Cookson with new cast members Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal.
In Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the Kingsman headquarters are destroyed by a mysterious crime syndicate, and Eggsy must enlist the help of their larger-than-life counterparts, Statesman, to track down the psychopathic villain behind the attack.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a unique, stylish, subversively funny, action-packed movie event. It’s outrageous, it’s spectacular, it’s pure entertainment.
Colin, in the following exclusive Q&A for Philippine STAR, talks about returning to the role, about Harry’s changing relationship with his mentee, Eggsy, and what Harry means to him. Is Harry’s return tricky to talk about? There must be so much you can’t say.
“There is, but I’ve noticed there’s a real spirit of complicity in all of that. Most people don’t want to spoil it either. Nobody wants to be the one to spoil the tease.” How much can you say about Harry’s return? “Well… One of the most defining things
about the first film was the Harry-Eggsy relationship. Without giving too much away, those are the things that are carrying the second movie as well. I think we can say that the affection that these characters have for each other is very much a theme in the second film. It has some fun with the whole business of a stiff upper lip and the manly mask you put on, particularly if you’re a hardened soldier in the field. There are some huggy moments. ” How did you find people reacted to the first movie, and to Harry?
“I did get people coming up to me in the street about Kingsman. It’s a strange thing to be in your fifties and think whatever you’re going to be known for, you’re already known for, and then to have something so unlikely become part of that picture. So if Harry has any strengths as a character in the first film, it’s largely in the way Eggsy is reacting to him. He’s this father figure, he’s a mentor. I think a lot of people have a yearning for someone like that.”
What does Harry mean to you?
“I found him very playable. This is a man who does what I could never do and it probably is partly because I met Matthew early on in the writing process, which he did on purpose as he wanted to start tailoring it to the actors. I found it came quite naturally. That may be no surprise to people, as they’ve seen me play plenty of English gents. But there’s something about this character that I found quite accessible.” Did you find training for the action scenes easier this time around?
“Well, by the time I was up and running on the first film it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It was the early stages of training that were absolutely gruesome. Look what they had to work with. I was a middle-aged man starting from scratch. But the guys were tolerant. They were all champions of things, and they knew I wasn’t that. But I thought, I’ll get points for showing up and being on time and being willing and putting up with the pain. On the second one, I had more reference points and they knew that. They had moves I’d done before.
Harry is involved, shall we say, with the new additions to the film, the Statesman. The film is very interested in playing on that very special relationship between Britain and the US. What can you say about the approach to that in Kingsman: The Golden Circle?
“They are archetypes of each country. You don’t see pinstriped men walking down the street in England. You just don’t, just as if you walk down a street in America, you’re not going to see guys in fringe jackets and Stetsons. So it’s playing on subversions of the extremes of the differences between the two characters. The Brits are very plummy and the Americans are very laidback. It’s a kind of odd couple banter. I think of things like The Persuaders, where Roger Moore needs to loosen up a bit and Tony Curtis needs to clean up a bit. What can we learn from each other? The affection is always there, a mutual respect hidden in the rivalry.”
Kingsman: The Golden Circle opens Sept. 20 nationwide in cinemas from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warne Bros. It is also available in IMAX screens.